Oldies Older Than Dirt "Que Sera, Sera"
It's not that I am so much older than most of you. It's just that I have been hearing and remembering music for longer, thanks to my Mom, who was always singing something. I found this website that really reaches back through the years for popular music. You can change the year in the URL to find the year you are looking for.I can go down this list and can hear many of the songs playing in my brain just as if I was tuned in. Beyond popular broadcast music, I also have an enormous catalog of complete Broadway musicals stored in my spongy grey matter. Why else would I use "Goodnight Irene","The Tennessee Waltz" and "Bali Ha'i" for lullabies? I was fresh out of the womb in 1950 but already steeped in American Pop music.
My mother must have been an aspiring cabaret singer because I know I heard most of this music as she sang along with the radio. She faithfully bought several comic-book style magazines published weekly with nothing but popular song lyrics - "Your Hit Parade" was one and "Song Hits" another. Required reading along with the Readers Digest.
We did not have a TV until I was seven so I really got the best of the late 40's early 50's radio culture. I wonder if there are cognitive development differences in the brains of children that were never exposed to TV until they saw "Winky Dink" on their grandmother's round screened Philco black&white and drew directly on the glass with crayons without benefit of the protective plastic sheet that you had to send away for.
My mother must have been an aspiring cabaret singer because I know I heard most of this music as she sang along with the radio. She faithfully bought several comic-book style magazines published weekly with nothing but popular song lyrics - "Your Hit Parade" was one and "Song Hits" another. Required reading along with the Readers Digest.
We did not have a TV until I was seven so I really got the best of the late 40's early 50's radio culture. I wonder if there are cognitive development differences in the brains of children that were never exposed to TV until they saw "Winky Dink" on their grandmother's round screened Philco black&white and drew directly on the glass with crayons without benefit of the protective plastic sheet that you had to send away for.
1 Comments:
I can identify with you here. We didn't get television until I was eight and then it was Muffin the Mule! We got a lot more out of the radio and I still recognise most of the theme tunes to the popular radio shows of the time. And a windup gramophone with those old records that would mould into flower pots if you heated them. Ask me how I know this. Grin!
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